“I want to tell the players that I love them, and they did their best,” said Gwangju FC coach Lee Jung-hyo, whose dreams of reaching the Korea Cup final for the first time since its inception were dashed.
Gwangju drew 2-2 away to Ulsan HD in the second leg of the 2024 Hana Bank Korea Cup semifinals at Munsu Stadium in Ulsan on Monday. After losing the first leg 0-1, Gwangju was unable to overcome the aggregate score deficit.
Gwangju, who were without key players such as Jeong Ho-yeon, Asani, Heo Yul, and Choi Kyung-rok, did well against Ulsan, who were loaded with national team players, 카지노사이트 추천 equalizing at 2-2 in the 44th minute.
However, needing one more goal to send the match into extra time, Gwangju hung its head in shame after failing to score. “The players gave everything they could on the field,” Lee said at the post-match press conference, adding, ”It’s a shame because they didn’t give up until the end and did a good job.”
“I was very angry during tactical training. “I gave them a lot of reprimands, and I taught them three ways to play,” he said, adding, ”I gave them a defense of dropping down, creating blocks in the middle, and pressing forward, but they had a meeting and said they wanted to press forward, so we decided to try it.
Lee praised the multi-goal scorer, calling him “a player with a lot of strengths.”
“He has good physical strength and a good body. But sometimes he can get carried away with his own emotions on the pitch and not play well with the team,” Lee said, adding, ”Even today, his positioning was not that good, but he has a lot of will to play.”
“That’s why I’m on the roster for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL),” he said, adding, ”I told him to come and swear at me when he scored, but I think he forgot because it was his first goal (for Gwangju).”
Lee also thanked his players, who were categorized as the ‘second team’.
“These players are the reason why we’re seventh in the league and we’ve made it to the second leg of the semifinals (of the Korea Cup),” he said. ‘I think having these players will give us a lot of strength for the league and ACL in the future,’ he added.
“In the current situation, we have no choice but to continue utilizing these players,” he added.
